


hand in hand, with clipped wings, unable to fly anymore

by BlueFairyKino



Category: Dragon Quest IX, Dragon Quest Series
Genre: DAD AQUILA DAD AQUILA DA, Gen, Muteness, Pre-Canon, and a bit of endgame content too whoops, and a little bit of actual canon in there too, aquila goes HAM on his peers, do NOT shit talk his daughter u WILL regret it, her name is phoenix and i adore her, ok SOME post-canon stuff, protag is actually mute, spoilers for a certain postgame quest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 00:01:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20367289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueFairyKino/pseuds/BlueFairyKino
Summary: And she stood there, in front of the statue which no longer bared any name, and stood next to him, wondering if, in this world, where their brethren were gone and they were left as mortals, if it would be alright for her to call him 'Father'.Because really, at this point, that was what he was.





	hand in hand, with clipped wings, unable to fly anymore

**Author's Note:**

> HI I'M DYING OVER DQ9 AGAIN!!!! I CAN'T FUCKING HANDLE THIS GAME!!!
> 
> aquila gives me emOTIONS OK i love egg angel dad
> 
> i do kinda wanna write a full game-novelization with phoenix and her party (and knowing me it'll be canon divergent in some areas bc of course it'd be) but for now here's bonding between angel dad and angel child bc this game and their bond makes me fucking EMOTIONAL

New Celestrians were born by leaves of Yggdrasil. Every so often, a large leaf would drift down from the branches, and rest beneath the tree, eventually wrapping around itself and becoming a being. A young one, yes, but one knowing the basics of their purpose, among various other things.

These leaves were durable. None were supposed to even gain a small tear.

Fate, apparently, had other plans for one particular Celestrian, whose leaf was found to have the tiniest tear near what would become the newborn's neck.

Oh, they fretted, they worried, but the leaf still formed itself, and from it came a young girl. Her hair was bright red, her skin was dark brown and seemed to have a glow to it, and her eyes were a striking golden color, shimmering like the sparks of a flame. From these traits, the girl was immediately christened 'Phoenix'. It seemed as if the tear had no effects on her.

But moments after her birth, she opened her mouth to speak...and nothing emerged.

Phoenix had no voice.

***

For a while, the girl was left alone. What use was an apprentice who could not respond to her teacher's commands? She could not ask questions, nor gather one's attention with ease, nor inform others of her accomplishments...she could not do much without a voice.

At least, that was what she heard the other Celestrians mumbling on about as she walked through the Observatory's halls. But if you hear such things your_ whole existence_, from those meant to _guide_ you through the world, what _else_ was one to believe?

Phoenix, from the beginning, was _destined_ to be alone.

.

.

.

And then Aquila came before her.

She knew of him well. He was somewhat _infamous_ for hardly _ever_ wishing to teach any newly born Celestrians. He'd only ever accepted one, which was barely a century ago, but they faltered under his _strict_ teachings and _unrelenting_ critiques, and apparently ran off somewhere among the Protectorate and never returned, leaving him once again a studentless mentor.

So naturally, when Phoenix, having been sitting upon one of Yggdrasil's roots alone, realized he was walking up to _her_, of all, people, she figured she'd unknowingly done something wrong by him, and was ready to be scolded or worse.

...and yet, all he did was hand a wad of blank paper to her, and then a quill pen. At her confused gaze, he motioned towards them.

"Can you not communicate using those?"

It was such a simple solution! All those _years_ of others ignoring her attempts at interaction since she could not say a word to them, and this one comes up and basically gives her a _makeshift voice_!

Perhaps, simply, they believed she would not be _worth_ the effort.

For a while after that, the two would periodically meet up upon that root, and Aquila would teach Phoenix various new words and phrases, and help with her handwriting. He never asked for _anything_ beyond that; it was simply _routine_ at this point, she assumed. But it was something she _cherished_.

And it was the first thing that allowed her to _smile_.

The second thing that allowed that was when she got the news that Apus Major had asked him to mentor _her,_ of all people, and Aquila had said _yes_.

He was strict as always, yes, but he was _patient_ with her. He'd wait for her to stop writing when she was responding to him or asking him something, and gave her both _genuine_ praise and _effective_ critiques whenever he evaluated her progress.

She wouldn't choose another mentor for the _entire world._

***

"Why did you even _agree _to mentor that girl, anyhow?"

She'd been wandering about the place, searching for her mentor, when she overheard it as she passed by the library. Quickly hiding behind the door, she peeked in to find Aquila, along with a couple of Celestrians. She remembered them, somewhat, as they'd always given her an especially rough time due to her lack of voice.

"She has incredible potential." Aquila responded nonchalantly, as if it was all too obvious. "And she's been an _excellent_ student thus far. She's been taking to Guardian work like she did to writing."

A scoff came from the other Celestrian. "Writing _this_, writing _that_. That's the problem here; that's _all _she can do to communicate. How do we know her..._situation _isn't a sign of something _more_? Perhaps her birth is a sign of Yggdrasil _dying_? The leaves do not just _tear_, Aquila. It's unnatural. _She _is unnatural."

"What is truly _unnatural_," The man huffed, glaring daggers at the two, "Is your lack of _understanding_. All newborns beyond Phoenix have been _fine_, so what makes her so _different_ that you must _slander_ her name like this?"

"What's so - Aquila, she has no voice! Surely that must mean _something_!"

A chair clattered to the ground, causing Phoenix to jump. When she looked back through the doorway, she saw Aquila standing, the chair he'd been sitting on having fallen on the floor and the two Celestrians he was arguing with having seemingly jumped back somewhat in shock.

...she'd seen him annoyed before, but never this _furious_.

"What it _means_ is that she simply needs a different way to communicate with others. Nothing _more_, nothing _less_. How hard she's been working as my apprentice despite her disability speaks _far_ more than _any_ voice could, and _you_ using your _own_ voice to _slander _her rather than do something _useful _with your time speaks for itself. The poor girl was _left alone_ until I brought her under my wing, for the Almighty's sake! If you knew her even the _slightest _bit that you believe you do, you'd know that Phoenix has been working _incredibly _hard to overcome her disability, and has _never _allowed her lack of a voice to hold her back. But _no_, you lot have been too busy _scorning_ and _mocking_ the poor girl!"

With one last glare, Aquila turned to leave, before stopping.

"She was alone for so _long _before I began raising her. I shall _not_ allow that to continue. So if either of you have any _more _remarks to make about her? Either pray to the Almighty that I do not overhear them, or keep them _out_ of your _mouths_."

...it took Phoenix a moment to register the tears escaping her eyes. Aquila, despite being so very angry, almost sounded..._used _to this. How many times had others badgered him about taking her under his wing? How many times had he defended her like this?

...did he _truly_ think this highly of her?

"Phoenix?"

The girl jumped up again when her name was called, nearly tempted to bolt away before realizing that Aquila had simply noticed her. Quickly, she took out her paper and pen.

[I was looking for you.]

"Ah, right, it's about time we headed out, correct...?" After a pause, he reached forward and ever so gently caught one of the girl's tears with his finger.

"...Phoenix, did you hear all of that?"

Suddenly feeling incredibly nervous, the girl hid her face behind her paper before lightly nodding, then writing again.

[How many times have people said all of that?]

A sigh. "Far too many. Don't concern yourself with their words."

...

[Sorry for listening in.]

"No need to apologize. Sometimes, unintentionally eavesdropping like that is inevitable." With a small smile, he gently patted her shoulder. "Get your tears dried and cleaned up as best you can, and then we will go, alright?"

She nodded, and then Aquila headed off. Likely to prepare for today's trip down to the Protectorate.

...Phoenix lasted only a few seconds more before the tears fell anew, this time of sheer joy.

Raising. He'd said _raising_, and he really _had _raised her, hadn't he? She'd learned of the human concept of 'parents' a while ago, and yes, _maybe _she'd had thoughts of Aquila being like such a person once or twice or a few times, but...was it really possible he felt the same?

Could she truly be a _daughter _to him?

<strike>those thoughts came again later, as she frantically reached out to him, their hands just _barely_ missing each other before she was swept off in a flurry of feathers.</strike>

<strike>they came back when he knocked her off of the starlight express, fyggs in his hands and a look of sheer _guilt_ in his eyes.</strike>

<strike>and one more time, when they sat in an empty throne room, her companions having gone outside to give them a moment alone, as his life slowly faded in her arms, and he used his final breath to tell her how _proud_ he was of how far she'd come, how _happy_ and _grateful _he was to have had the blessing to raise her, and used his last bits of strength to wipe away her tears _one last time_ before he faded in a flash of light with a smile on his face.</strike>

<strike>so when pavo offered a solution, a way to save him, how could she _not_ take it?</strike>

<strike>the moment she saw him at that statue, _mortal _but _alive_, she couldn't resist running up and jumping into his arms, tears pouring like waterfalls as he held her and gently stroked her hair, just like he used to.</strike>

***

The two of them visited the statue in Angel Falls quite often.

It may serve no purpose in the eyes of the mortals, who no longer remember them beyond slight feelings of deja vu, but to Phoenix and Aquila, it was a reminder of both what they had lost, and what they had gained.

In place of their old home, and their wings, they now had the freedom to do _whatever_ they wished. For Phoenix, that was staying with her companions and traveling the world as a grotto explorer. And Aquila? He'd been _all too quick_ to join her, both wanting to make up the time they'd lost and wanting to get to know her new friends.

Yet even then, they could _never _forget about what they had been through. Memories were an _especially_ sore topic, since Aquila remembered both living by aid of the jewel, and dying and fading in Phoenix's arms. Time travel and past editing was weird that way, and it wasn't _easy_, but she did her best to help him when memories of the latter timeline got _especially_ difficult to deal with.

But whenever it got too much for _both _of them, then no matter _where _they were at the time, the two would Zoom to Angel Falls, reserve a room at the inn, and then sit and reminisce in front of the statue, like they were right now.

A tap to his arm alerted Aquila, and he patiently watched as Phoenix wrote for a moment.

[Do you think they're still watching us?]

He hummed, looking up at the starlit sky. "I'd say so. Or at least, _Columba_ certainly is, the worrywart."

Phoenix's lips quirked up at that. Columba really _had _always been one to fret over others. She'd do it to _everyone_ within the Observatory, including herself and Aquila.

...she'd also been the one who'd first said, _out loud_ at least, that Aquila was treating her like a strict, yet doting parent. It might have simply been to tease the poor man a bit (not that _that _was anything new), but really, in the end, it was _her_ who'd planted the whole idea in Phoenix's head to begin with.

And yet, Aquila _still_ didn't know about that. It was always simply too _nerve-wracking _to tell him.

With a light exhale, Phoenix slowly dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"...everything alright?"

[Just tired.]

"Understandable. It's getting quite late. We should be getting back to the inn."

Like many times before, he carefully put away Phoenix's pen and paper, and then gently picked up the tired girl, who was all too quick to lean into him.

"Rest if you have need. I'll bring you back."

As Aquila began to walk, and as Phoenix began to drift off in his arms, she thought about how this was so _fatherly _of him to do, and maybe she was being a bit too hopeful, but that _maybe _this was a sign he felt the same? That to him, she was his beloved daughter?

Perhaps someday, she'd be able to tell him. Perhaps someday, she would call him 'Father', and he would introduce her to others as his daughter, and they would walk this world as a true family.

But for now, it was enough to be like this. Two ex-celestrians, a once-mentor and once-hero, traveling together and taking care of each other.

For now, that was enough for her.


End file.
